Omitting the backlit keyboard was a HUGE mistake on your part. Additionally, the Macbook Air was the last bastion at Apple for those of us who prefer (and rightly so) MATTE finish displays. A glossy display on an ultraportable is like Christmas in July - it just doesn't belong.
I'll be holding out until someone at Apple comes to their senses and re-installs the backlit keyboard. I guess I'll get quite a few more miles with my Rev. C Macbook Air after all......... 8-(
Macbook Air Rev. C,
Mac OS X (10.6.4),
no backlit keyboard = NO SALE!
I'm willing to bet that you can't touch type the function keys or, most likely, the number/symbol keys.
As many others have written, an MBA with no backlit keyboard is just "wrong". Apple will bring it back in the next rev., even if it's a BTO extra-cost option.
I was itching to upgrade my 2008 MBA, and I can see several worthwhile improvements in the new models, but I've resisted (so far) because I don't want to buy now and discover six months from now that the backlit keyboard is back.
It doesn't have anything to do with being able to touch type or not. I can touch type, as can many others in this thread.
The whole point of a laptop, and especially a MBA, is portability. That means that you can take your computer with you just about wherever you go, even unconventional situations.
So yes, if you sit at a desk in a well lit room, then you probably don't need backlit keys, but you probably don't need a MBA either. If you like to cruise the internet while watching a movie, or doing work on an airplane, or giving presentations, or any situation where you're not typing with both hands, you need a backlit keyboard.
First of all, I was really expecting that the new MBA will have a backlit keyboard. I actually changed my mind about buying one, but now that I carefully though about it, I realized the following:
1. In the airplane, there is a light on top of you specially made for you to read and type on your keyboard. So that's not an excuse.
2. When its really dark anywhere, whether in bed or elsewhere, and you cannot even see your keyboard keys, maybe you should think twice. Looking at a laptop screen when the surrounding is really dark will strain your eyes quite badly. Having or not having a backlit keyboard wont change a thing here.
3. Most people who use laptop or computers enough, dont even need to look at the keyboard. Some keys like the Function key, and so on might need you to look at them, etc, but most of the time people dont look at their keyboards.
4. The MBA is meant to be a portable machine, not your main machine. Dont expect it to be perfect, and dont expect it to have every single feature in the book, while still being one of the slimmest, the lightest, and coolest laptops around.
5. For Apple to integrate a backlit keyboard, they will probable have to change or update the Motherboard (for the connection to the keyboard for the LEDs), add a sensor into the LCD screen, etc, all things that would probably show up on a next revision due to all the hardware changes. Someone can open up a new MBA and confirm all this. So do you wanna wait 6 months+ for this feature? Not me.
6. One could still use that USB LED light that others suggested. So when the circumstances are really bad that you
really need to see your keyboard, well, you pull that little USB thing and plug it in. No biggie, and its light and small, so you can always keep it with your laptop bag/sleeve/etc.
7. If apple did not include it on this MBA, and the next MBA is to be thinner, then dont expect a backlit keyboard on the thinner one. Unless some kind of magic happens and they figure a way to do it that would not have been possible now. Am sure Apple had to go back and forth on this for a while before deciding not to include it. Its not like they enjoy punishing us for removing features you know?
Its a big bummer nonetheless, but one can live without it.
Sounds to me like you really want to buy the new Air and are trying to justify your decision. Be patient and wait. Don't reward Apple for making stupid decisions. They're banking on the dummies who always have to purchase the latest tech. They won't win out on me.
This computer HAD a backlight, and they took it away. It is a premium computer. There's no excuse for omitting it. It's a total compromise, and I'll have nothing to do with it. That can keep the new MacBook Error, and I'll keep my old MacBook Air.
To answer your question, yes, I type without backlight. It's called touch typing and back in the good old days, people learned to touch type on that ancient thing called a typewriter. I guess that doesn't work for the younger two finger hunt and peck crowd. Mavis Beacon ftw.
I guess people didn't notice another thing Apple omitted from the new AIR. _*Ambient light sensor*_. Yes the new Air doesnt have the Ambient light sensor as well. I think all this was done to cut costs. I read somewhere that the total production cost was around $750 and this features may have been left out to increase the margin.
Regardless to say I'm still having a good time with my base 11.6
I feel the same way as you do, but let me ask you the following:
1. Yes, wait, but wait how long? 6 months b4 the next revision? How do you know if the next revision(s) will even have backlit keyboards?
2. See, I need a portable laptop, I dont have right now another MBA, and I dont have a MBP.
3. After all, is the backlit keyboard really going to stop me from getting the 13" MBA, even though that practically I wont even use it? I dont use laptop in the complete dark, or in bed.
Boils down to if the newer MBA would have a backlit keyboard, and that fact does not bothers me, or I wont be ****** about it, then am ready to get this current MBA. That said, if I had the older MBA, I would probably wait and see at that point...
I understand your point. Those who have never owned the previous MBA would easily welcome the newest versions. They are cheaper and still very cool. But those like myself who currently own the previous MBA will find it very difficult to take the downgrade.
The lack of the backlit keyboard his received more flack than I'm sure Apple had anticipated, so revisions will be sure to be introduced in the next 6-7 months... just as the iPhone 4 antenna issue and no Face Time camera on the iPad will be addressed quickly in upcoming revisions.
Do yourself a favor, and treat yourself to a refurbished Rev C MacBook Air while they're still available. For $1100, you can't beat the value, plus you're getting a premium, no compromise, no watered down version of the Air original design intent.
Well, as an early subscriber to this topic I said that while I absolutely agreed with the criticisms about the lack of a backlit keyboard I wasn't going to cancel my order because of all the improvements over my 2009 2.13 GHz, 128Gb SSD MBA.
Having taken delivery yesterday of the 2,13GHz, 256Gb 4Gb RAM version I must say that I am delighted with it in spite of that one defect. It is soooooooo fast, has such improved resolution too and the virtually immediate restart is just amazing.
To those who haven't yet cancelled I say, grind your teeth by all means but think hard before you do whether that defect is really a dealbreaker.
I just checked (October 30th), and the Dutch store still lists a backlit keyboard as reported by LanTao on October, 25th. What's the deal here? Just sloppy Dutch folks?
"Can't touch the Function keys in a dimly lit or dark room?" For touch-typists (not the hunt and peck younger variety) the home row on any keyboard is your base. That's why the F and J keys have the raised bars on them. From there, anyone can find the Function keys... even in the dark! As one poster suggested, your best bet is to learn how to type properly instead of griping about the lack of backlight!
And fyi, touch typists never look at a keyboard to type so it doesn't matter what lighting there is. Do as the poster said and spend a bit of time with Mavis Beacon!
Not buying a great system because of no backlighting seems a bit ridiculous.
Sorry, erblo, but I don't agree with you. You can see my response to the other poster. For those of us who did learn the proper way to touch type way back, the whole idea was so you can type without looking at the keys! Hunting and pecking isn't touch typing. Take the time to learn the right method and you'll never need backlit keys. And yes, we can even access the numbers and symbols without looking.
I'm not learning how to type all over again just because Apple wants to cut costs. I'm the customer, and I can vote with my dollars, and that is what I am going to do.
If the removal of the MBA backlit keyboard does not not bother you or apply to your situation, why waste your time on a thread that focuses on this subject?
